Free Book Girl and the Corrupted Angel by Mizuki Nomura

normal…the fact that she wouldn’t tell me his name, but there were a bunch of times that it seemed like she was happy and gushing about him. But then all of a sudden she seemed like she didn’t want to talk, or like it hurt her to say anything more. It was especially bad lately… It was like she didn’t want me to ask about him. And then these last two months or so, whenever I was talking to Yuka on the phone, another call would come in almost every time…”
    “From her boyfriend?”
    “Yeah.”
    Kotobuki frowned.
    “Then Yuka would say, ‘Sorry, it’s my boyfriend. I’ll text you later.’ Then she’d hang up. But she didn’t used to act that way. I guess he didn’t like her working in a restaurant at night because it was too dangerous. Then Yuka told me that he would get worried and call her. It was like he was stalking her…”
    Something ominous slowly filled my heart.
    Maybe he’d learned of Mito’s secret.
    Then he might not have been able to stop himself from calling her all the time to check what she was doing…
    Or if he was a product of Mito’s imagination as Kotobuki suggested, then might those calls have been from Mito’s “job”…?
    “…But the last time you talked to Mito on the phone, didn’t she tell you that she was looking at a Christmas tree with him?”
    A dark shadow fell over Kotobuki’s eyes, and her tone grew hard.
    “That’s true… But she was weirdly excited then, and I thought she sounded like she was acting onstage.”
    In the deep of a night fallen into silence, had Mito been talking to Kotobuki all alone on the other end of the phone?
    She was with him now…
    When I imagined that, a shudder went through me, as if a paintbrush had run along the back of my neck.
    “He may have actually been there. But I thought maybe things had stopped going well for them and they’d broken up…that maybe she couldn’t say it and was pretending they were still going out. When I remember talking to Yuka, that’s how it seemed.
    “It’s only my personal theory, though,” Kotobuki murmured with difficulty.
    Yes—none of this was more than conjecture.
    Had Mito had a boyfriend or not? And what about the angel and her secret lessons?
    There was still no proof that she had been working as an escort under the name Camellia, either.
    Even though I knew that was a cop-out, it was what I told myself, and I decided not to say anything to Kotobuki about it yet.
     
    “You just don’t want to know.”
     
    I argued desperately against the voice echoing in my head.
    That’s not true! I just don’t want to hurt Kotobuki. Besides, was there any reason to try to force the truth out? That might cause something worse. If you could avoid hurting anyone, that was better by far.
    The school bell rang, and we all returned to our seats.
     
    Akutagawa furrowed his brow and looked at me worriedly.

    I got your message, Nanase.
    Sorry, I’ve got a lesson after work that day. Would next Saturday work?
    Omigosh, Nanase! I wasn’t paying attention and I gained five pounds! My angel says it’s better to be fat, to up your lung power, but it’s still such a shock. Starting today, I’m having an apple and soy cookies for lunch!
    Today, I sang the aria for the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in front of everyone.
    Even I was shocked at how long I stretched my voice out, and the teachers were surprised, too. The kids in class were asking which of the great singers I was getting lessons from, so I told them it was an Angel of Music and their jaws all hit the floor. It was so funny.
    Even though it’s the truth.
    Someone said something mean to me at work. That customer is such a jerk!
    But I have to put up with it to earn money for school. Sigh…why is music so expensive? We have to pay for concert tickets for class and other stuff—it gives me such a headache.
    Listen to this, Nanase! I got picked for the lead in our next recital! Hurray! Promise you’ll come!
    I can’t make any time for